The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Coating or painting interiors and exteriors of structures is often a precise, tedious and time consuming task. It can often be a dangerous task as well. In order to paint even the simplest of interior walls, the area must first be prepared. Painter's tape, drop cloths, and other barriers are temporarily put in place in order to protect areas from the unwanted application of paint. In order to ensure strong adhesion of the new paint, the wall itself may also be cleaned.
Next, the borders of the wall must be cut in. That is, the edges of the wall must be painted with particular care in order to avoid painting the ceiling, the floor, door frames and the like. Cutting in is typically done by hand with a small brush. The painter may carry around a paint can or a small container of paint and slowly paint the top edge, side edges, intermediate edges, and bottom edge of the wall. Cutting in often requires the painter to spend significant amounts of time bent over, standing on ladders, and moving painting equipment along the wall. It is not uncommon for cutting in to occupy at least half of the time spent painting a single surface. Cutting in also occurs around certain permanent items such as electrical outlets or switches, ceiling fans, etc.
After cutting in, the bulk of the wall may be painted. Such large area painting may be performed utilizing the small brushes used to cut in. At the cost of additional equipment and set up time, paint rollers, spray apparatus and other devices may be used to speed this portion of the process. Paint rollers, for example, are typically nine inches wide and may be attached to a broom handle or the like, enabling the painter to apply a coat of paint to a large area of a wall with minimal effort.
When using any type of paint applicator, the painter must take care to ensure that a uniform amount of paint is applied per square inch of the wall. Among other considerations, this ensures that the finished wall has a uniform appearance. That is, no colors from underneath bleed through. Furthermore, despite likely using multiple types of applicators, the painter must ensure that the texture of the applied paint is uniform. For example, where a smooth finish is desired, the painter must hide the brush strokes in the applied paint.
Once a first coat of paint is applied to a surface being painted, additional coats may be needed. Where this is the case, the painter must wait for the previous coat of paint to dry, reset the equipment for applying the next coat, and begin the process again. Wait time between applications of coats is problematic. The painter often wished to complete the job as quickly as possible but may be unfamiliar with the minimum amount of time necessary to wait between coats. The wait time is heavily influenced by environmental factors such as ambient temperature and humidity. Furthermore, many painters will not apply a coat of paint to an exterior surface of a structure if the weather forecast calls for rain within twelve hours.
In some regimes, robotic devices are suited to perform basic, tedious and/or time-consuming tasks. For example, Roomba® cleaning devices (available from iRobot Corporation of Bedford, Mass.) semi-autonomously vacuum interior floors, eliminating or reducing the need for an individual to clean the floor frequently.
Autonomous and semi-autonomous flying vehicles have been developed which are capable of flying precise flight patterns, identifying and avoiding obstacles in a flight path and taking off or landing at a desired location.
Given the foregoing, apparatus, systems and methods are needed which facilitate painting surfaces via a robotic vehicle. Additionally, apparatus, systems and methods are needed which facilitate reducing or eliminating the human labor component of painting a surface such an interior wall, exterior of a house, or the like.